


On A Calm Summer Morning

by Absent_Enigma



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 2nd POV, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bioluminescent scales b/c yes, Eventual Fluff, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Physical Disability, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Slow Romance, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Trust Issues, due to past capture and trauma, lakeside home, mer skeletons, mermaid au, reader is a photographer, reader is physically fit and will throw hands if need be, reader likes nature hikes, underswap Papyrus and Sans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26214115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Absent_Enigma/pseuds/Absent_Enigma
Summary: You are enjoying the summer up at your lakeside cabin home, reveling in the silence and solitude. You never anticipated that you would soon be taking care of two injured mermaids...er, mer-skeletons? The loneliness you didn’t even realize you were experiencing lessened the longer you were around your new companions.As time slowly meandered toward autumn, and then winter, each passing day spent with the recovering mer made you become aware of the fact that they would eventually have to return to their home. You weren’t sure you could go back to your solitude without feeling like you were missing something.
Relationships: Papyrus (Underswap)/Reader, Sans (Underswap)/Reader
Comments: 68
Kudos: 389





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no self control in waiting to post stories. It just feels weird if I’m not working on multiple projects at once.
> 
> Tbh, I like a lot of different kinds of aus, and I wanted to do my take on some. So here’s a (sort of) mermaid au with the Underswap brothers as mer skeletons, and the reader who just thought that they were going to be enjoying a quiet summer.

The storms that had been around for the past week were finally gone, leaving the sky clear of clouds. It was a perfect morning to go on a hike, cool and smelling of fresh rain from the night before.

All in all, it looked like today would be a great day up at your lakeside cabin home, situated out in the middle of nowhere in the woods. The cabin was miles away from the closest small town, where you drove to stock up on groceries when you were running low. But the solitude you found in the secluded lakeside home was what convinced you to spend a third of your year here. Not to mention you loved your late grandparents cabin home, and had fond memories of the many weekends you spent here as a child.

It was a perfect retreat for you from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

But even if you were isolated this far from town, you were comforted by the fact that if any emergencies ever arose, you could always call on your neighbors who lived on the other side of the lake. You could even call in anyone who lived in the small town nearby, since it was such a close knit community of both monsters and humans. 

You were sorely tempted, as the years ticked by, to just move to the cabin permanently. It had had additions made to it by your grandparents, so the cabin was more of a house with two bedrooms, a large bathroom, extra storage off of the dining room, a comfy, spacious living room and a cozy kitchen. Working as a freelance photographer (and currently living off a generous inheritance from your other pair of grandparents), you used your free time to indulge in your desire to be surrounded by nature for part of the year.

That tiny, cramped and very expensive apartment back in the city was hardly used, since you tended to travel around a lot for work at times, depending on the current job at hand. Your last job had yielded a higher pay than anticipated, so you felt no shame in retreating to the lake two weeks earlier than you normally would.

It was worth it for all of the beautiful sunrises and sunsets you witnessed across the lake.

And the extra time to hike through the woods?

An added bonus.

That morning, you were all prepared to go out for a hike while it was still wonderfully cool out. You brought a backpack with you that held some snacks, a water bottle, a hunting knife, your phone and a few other essentials.

Venturing down the path that led from the cabin, you walked briskly, reveling in the crisp, fresh air. About a mile down the path, you veered into the surrounding trees, taking a shortcut that would bring you deeper into the woods. The chirping of birds brightened your mood as you automatically stepped around downed tree limbs, likely from all of the storms that had blown through. There were no fallen trees, but you were careful to keep an eye out for any damaged trees that might be in danger of toppling over and onto you.

A half hour into your hike, you began to come across small pools of water that had gathered from all of the downpours over the past week. You stop now and again alongside these pools, crouching down to take a look, curious to see just how deep they were. Sometimes puddles could be deceptively shallow but when you jumped into it, it would sometimes be quiet deep. You peered closely in the water to see if any critters swam in the rainwater, who might have gotten swept up in the storm. You’d seen nothing so far apart from a few insects lazily dipping down toward the water and back, along with a few squirrels getting a drink before bolting at the sight of you.

A splash sounded up ahead, and you looked away from the small pool of water you’d been lingering next to. You listened for awhile, about to dismiss the sound as a figment of your imagination, when another splash rang out, and then another. Oddly enough, you could have sworn you heard someone let out a frustrated sigh.

That was...

You were alone in the woods, weren’t you? This was a no hunting grounds patch of land, and that protected status went around the lake for miles and miles. Had someone decided that the rules didn’t apply to them and come up to this remote place anyway?

Another splash, and then one more, accompanied by that same sigh, before the splashing stopped altogether.

You decided to investigate, hand going to your backpack to slide the hunting knife free of its sheathe. Having figured out the direction the splashes had come from, you picked your way through the fallen sticks and undergrowth, doing your best to not announce your presence. You needed to see what the situation was first, and if it would be best to retreat instead of continuing onward. Reaching a large oak tree, you peered around it, and saw a flash of vibrant orange in the shallow pool of water that had gathered in a natural incline in the middle of a cluster of trees.

Orange...

Had some koi from old man Pops’ koi pond been washed all the way here? That seemed pretty dang impressive, considering the man’s home was miles away from here. Then again, the orange you had seen appeared much bigger than even the largest koi Pops owned. There was no way that someone’s kayak had gotten washed up in the middle of the woods either. That wouldn’t explain the intermittent splashing.

You peered around the oak again, this time taking in more of the pool at the base of the small dip in the landscape.

There was a skeleton was at the edge of the water, arms propping its skull up on the grass.

What?

You ducked back behind the oak, mind racing. You were confused but also very concerned, half wondering if the remains of someone who had been lost in the woods had been unearthed. It wasn’t unheard of, but it wouldn’t make sense for the skeleton to be posed as such. The bones of the skeleton seemed...off, somehow. Taking a deep breath, you slowly let it out and checked to make sure that you weren’t seeing things.

Nope. 

There really was a skeleton there.

Since you saw nothing in your vicinity apart from the skeleton, you moved out from behind the oak and cautiously approached the water. You eased your backpack off and set it aside, along with the knife, as you inched closer. You halted a foot or so away from the skeleton to take a closer look. From this vantage, you could clearly see the rest of the skeleton’s body beneath the surface of the water.

There was a vibrant orange.

Was this skeleton a...?  


You quietly watched the teeth of the skeleton part open in a wide yawn before the skull sagged heavily back onto the arms.

Okay...

That was...

Okay.

So, the skeleton had moved, which meant that it was a monster of some sort. Likely one of the sub-species of monster that had been freed from beneath Mt. Ebott nearly 15 years ago. With that had come a lot of different monsters, including one that humans had been convinced existed for a very long time.

Mermaids.

This skeleton’s appearance matched up with that information, though it threw you off to know that there were indeed mer...skeletons, along with some of the more stereotypical mer. Honestly, you shouldn’t be so surprised, as you continued to study the slumbering mer.  From its skull to the bottom of the ribs, the skeleton was all bone, but right beneath those ribs there was soft looking orange that covered the rest of the body.  You’d seen that odd flesh-like stuff before on a few other monsters, and...

Oh, what was it that monsters called that? 

Your racked your brain for the term as you continued to observe the mermaid...er, mer skeleton? It had yet to move from the resting position apart from the yawn. Studying the blunt teeth, the words youn were looking for came to mind.

Ecto-flesh.

You glanced back down at the tail beneath the water.

The skeleton had orange colored ecto covered in faint scale-like patterns that went from just beneath those ribs to taper down into a long tail that ended in a very wavy fin that held both vibrant orange and a dusky red at the very tips. Beneath that ecto flesh you believed that you could see hints of bone.  


You really, really wanted to take a picture but you had left your camera back at the cabin. And you didn't think your phone could do justice for that beautiful orange.

The situation you had walked in to slowly began to sink in, along with how odd it was.

A mer...in the middle of the woods?

How had it even gotten here?

From what little you recalled from an article you’d read in the past, most mer kept to the ocean, since it suited their needs much more than any other body of water in the world.  


You cautiously kneel, frowning down at the slumbering mer before you turned your attention to your surroundings. 

Why _was_ this mer so far away from the ocean? It had to be at least 15 miles from here to town, and then another handful of miles from town to the ocean.

What to do, what to do.

You didn’t want to leave the mer here now that you’d come across it...

“where is he?” A hoarse voice suddenly demanded. “what have you done with him?” 

Before you could even begin to think of a response to such a question, or who had asked it, skeletal hands seized your arms. A loud splash was your only warning before the grip of those bony hands tightened and you were forcibly dragged forward and into the pool. Right before you went beneath the water, there was a gnashing of teeth that came a little too close for comfort to your head. The mer’s bony fingers wrapped tight around your upper arms and held firm.

So much for that calm, peaceful morning hike you had planned for today.

Drowning via mer skeleton in a shallow pool of rainwater wasn’t how you pictured yourself leaving this world, so you fought back instead. Luckily, the mer wasn’t very strong, despite it holding you firmly against it chest to chest beneath the surface of the water. But you had felt the brief tremor that ran through its body, as though the mer was already tired out from just dragging you into the water. What followed wasn’t a fair tussle, what with the water level being so low, but you were very much invested in breathing, so you used the lack of deep water to your advantage.

The mer skeleton, it turned out, wasn't expecting that.

You supposed that if you survived this, you could add 'wrestling with a mer skeleton' to your bucket list and check it off.


	2. Chapter 2

Who thought grappling with a mer underwater was a good idea?

Oh, right.

You thought it was a good idea, since you didn’t want an untimely drowning via the mer skeleton. 

Those bony hands had let go of your shoulders as the mer locked its arms around your waist. It was a little strange that the hold wasn’t tighter, because you were able to brush your feet against the grassy ground that was beneath the water. Had the mer skeleton not been holding you from behind and attempting to keep you in place, you probably would have been able to stand up. The water likely only came up to your knees, if not lower.

As it was, with a slight push of your feet against the submerged ground, you caused the mer to fumble their hold on you. Taking advantage ofthe lack of a firm grip, you lurched up, taking the mer along with you as your head broke the surface. Taking a few deep breaths, you made up a plan on the fly, inwardly thanking the self-defense courses you’d taken over the years.  When those bony hands attempted to wrap around your shoulders to drag you back under again, you leaned back against the mer-skeleton, feigning weakness. 

The mer’s grip slackened, as if not sure what you were up to.

You didn't waste any time, as you planted your feet against the ground again and shoved your weight backward against the mer.

An odd hiss emitted from the mer skeleton, and you turned around, you grappled for its lower body. You succeeded in  wrapping your arms and legs around the area above the tail fin, and held on for dear life.

The expected thrashing began as the mer skeleton attempted to throw you off its tail within the small pool.

When you felt it’s phalanges grasping for your hair, you let go of the tail, and lunged for the skeleton’s hands. The moment you got a hold of those bony wrists, you hastily twisted to the side before letting go of the mer. When its back was to you, you tackled it, wrapping your arms around its waist until the mer dipped beneath the water. You let go and planted your feet on the mer’s back to keep it beneath the surface of the water. You were nearly thrown off by the furious motion of the tail flailing, but you needed a moment to catch your breath.

Any monster could talk, whether through voice or body language, which meant this mer-skeleton could too.

You took a deep breath and went beneath the water, settling your body onto the mer’s back as they rose up to go after you, presumably. You wrapped your legs around the mer-skelton’s waist just below where bone met ecto, and then blindly reached up to lock your arms around its vertebrate about where a neck would be.

The mer skeleton was thrown off balance by your clinging as it made attempts to dislodge you.

One of your arms let go of the vertebrae to grip the spine beneath the shoulder blades between the ribs, and gave it a firm squeeze.

The mer skeleton’s body jerked at the touch before going inert, its entire frame quivering now and again.

You hastily unwrapped your legs from the mer’s waist. Keeping hold around neck bone and moving your hand to fully grasp the spine, you leaned back and dragged the mer over to one end of the shallow pool. Not giving the mer-skeleton a chance to retaliate, you forcefully maneuvered the mer and shoved it against the slight curve of the grassy ground. Leaning your weight against the bony monster, you keep the mer pinned, not about to let it slip away to try and drag you back beneath the water.

The mer's arms reached out over the grass, its phalanges digging into the ground. The mer scraped long gouges in the grass and dirt as it attempted to drag itself out of the water. When the mer found that it couldn't get away, its body sagged against the ground, as if resigned to its fate.

“Do you normally try to drown anyone who comes too close to a body of water?” You asked breathlessly, carefully settling your legs on either side of the mer's tail.

“Do you normally try wrestle mer in the water?” A tired male voice replied.It was the same voice from before you were dragged under the water.

“Only ones that are trying to drown me for no good reason.” You glanced down and saw that the mer skeleton has rested its...no, _his_ skull against the grass. The  mer had it tilted so that one eye socket could pin you with a white eye light.You could feel motion in the water of the tail idly flipping back and forth at the tip.

“heh. fair enough.” Th e mer’s tail suddenly thwacked your legs, hard, which caused you to let go of the mer’s neck.

In retaliation, you somehow found it in yourself to hoist him up out of the water by the spine and offending tail, and proceeded to chuck the mer onto the grass a few feet away from the pool.

Uh...

Wow.

The mer-skeleton was incredibly lightweight.

Whoops.

You hadn’t meant to send him so far away from the water.

The mer lie on his side, completely still, as if stunned, his eye lights flickering in their sockets.

Concerned, and embarrassed by the show of strength, you stepped out of the pool of water. Grimacing over the way your soaked clothes clung unpleasantly, you turned your head to look at the mer and made eye contact.

The mer broke the staring contest first, as he awkwardly half dragged and half flopped his long tailed self past you.  The mer gave you a wide berth as he slipped back into the pool of water, surfacing at the opposite end away from you. He stared at you with those eye lights for a short time before suddenly vanishing beneath the water.

Well, that had just happened. 

What an introduction.

A laugh threatened to escape you.

What the heck?

How in the world was the mer skeleton so light? You honestly hadn't meant to hoist the mer out of the water so easily nor had you meant to toss him so far. You did work out but this seemed kind of extreme. It wasn't like you could ask at this point how much the mer weighed but...at least you knew that were he okay with it, you would have no problem carrying the mer out of the woods. You glanced back at the pool with a faint frown.

Why _had_ the mer gone back into the water?

There wasn’t much water, now that you’d been in it. Less than two feet deep, which would likely be even less in a few hours, and only wide enough for the mer's upper body and vivid orange tail to half curl beneath the water.

You glanced around.

Well...based off the way the mer skeleton had dragged and flopped himself along, it wasn’t for lack of trying that he was stuck in the pool of water. The surrounding cluster of trees had too steep of an incline for the mer to pull the ecto part of his body along without the risk of causing harm to himself. Then there was the biggest problem, of being very far away from the ocean. There was no way that the mer skeleton would be able to haul himself along through the woods any time soon, even if he wanted to.

How long had the mer been here, anyway?

You moved over to the spot of flattened grass where the mer-skeleton had dragged himself along. You saw something on areas of the bent blades of grass that made an uneasy pit form in your stomach.

Orange.

An orange that was a little darker than the mer’s ecto tail.

You glanced down at your clothes and saw similar orange sticking here and there.

Oh.

Oh _no_.

You think you may have an inkling as to how the mer ended up in the woods, even if you didn’t know how he got to this place in particular. The only thing the orange left behind on the grass could be was the monster equivalent of blood. And upon closer inspection, you also saw tiny specks of gray dust within the orange.

Someone had injured the mer.

That would explain why he had attacked you despite not having any obvious reason to do so. Not to mention the mer's demand to know where 'he's was. Had more than on mer been attacked? You did get a good look at the skeleton mer earlier but you hadn’t noticed any injuries. Had the mer been leaning over the side of the pool earlier to hide them when you’d initially come across him?

You felt queasy.

Hadn’t poaching on monster mer been banned immediately, since mer had the same rights as land dwelling monsters? Obviously some people chose to ignore that, becuase no matter how it had come about, the mer skeleton was trapped and wounded in a strange place. How long had he had those injuries? How did monsters deal with injuries, and in particular, a mer, who wasn't anywhere near the ocean, and was forced to take refuge in a pathetic pool of rainwater? How long could a mer remain out of a body of water? Being a skeleton, you weren't sure how breathing worked without the use of lungs.

You really ought to call someone, but...

But if it really was poachers responsible for the state the mer skeleton was in, they were likely scouring the woods for the mer. Or if they werent actively looking, they would keep to the nearby town nearby and keep an ear out for anyone who found anything unusual in the woods.Unfortunately, despite the laws, you knew that mermaids of any kind were highly sought after as exotics pets, or for a sick sort of grotesque trophy, becuase some idiots just completely ignored the rights that made mer people. 

You would have to tread carefully.

For now, you decided it was best to give the mer skeleton some space. You’d go home and spend some time figuring out how to best go about getting on speaking terms with the mer.If you had things your way, you would have taken the mer to your cabin right this instant and had him recover in the lake.

It was quiet and secluded.

You hardly ever had any visitors, and only on rare occasion did you seen someone on a boat in the lake.

There was a wide stream that trailed from the lake through the woods, and down to the ocean. When the mer felt better, he could always travel back to the ocean that way. If he wasn’t trusting enough to let you drive him back to the ocean in your car, that is. You couldn’t in good conscience take an injured mer to the ocean without allowing them a chance to recuperate first, because you wanted the mer to stand a chance when brought back to their ocean home. Mer had to catch their own food most of the time, and you doubted one who was injured would be able to do so.

Mind made up with a plan of action, you went to go retrieve your backpack. As you did, you were aware of the mer’s skull poking up out of the water, presumably to watch you. After digging out a granola bar and a small bag of dried fruits, you discreetly sheathed the knife before making a show of putting your backpack on as you stepped up to the side of the pool.

The mer skeleton vanished beneath the surface.

You assumed that would be the case, so you merely set the food down within reach and left, making note of the coordinates of this area in your phone.

“I’m going to go for now.” You called over your shoulder. “I’ll be back later this afternoon.”

A single splash of a tail sharply hitting the water was the only answer you received.

-x-x-x-

It was late morning by the time you arrived back home. You changed out of your soaked clothes and go almost immediately through the fridge and pantry to see what you had in the way of food. You even broke out your fishing rod to see if you could catch any fish in the lake off the end of your dock.

Three hours beneath your umbrella at the end of thr dock, and you caught a small carp. Though it wasn’t impressive, you stuck it on ice and packed it into an insulated bag with other food, and went right back out in the heat of the afternoon to go back to the mer skeleton. The thought of leaving him there stranded wasn’t something you wanted but until you could ask him if you could help, you supposed that you could offer food. You were on a brief vacation from work anyway, and had planned to just go hiking or enjoy a nice breeze off the lake as you read a book on the tiny porch.

You felt that helping someone was a much better use of your time.

It took nearly a week for there to be a breakthrough.

Five days, and the pool of water shrinking to almost nothing before the mer finally decided to cave in and speak to you.

It was good to actually communicate, but you would have preferred the dwindling water not be the reason why the mer skeleton finally spoke to you. But with the cautious way he observed you as he attempted to figure out your motives...it made you wonder just how badly he had been mistreated, in addition to being wounded.

But this was progress, the speaking, so you would take what you could get. You wanted to steer the conversation toward the injuries becuase, well, they still seemed fresh, and it made you wonder how long the mer skeleton could be in that state before it would negatively affect for his health. Unfortunately, or fortunately, you just so happened to visit the mer at the exact right time to witness what happened to untreated wounds in ecto-flesh.

You resolved to take this mer skeleton home with you, whether he liked it or not, after seeing _that_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say the outline for this story is about 65-75% complete, including the ending I wrote out. It will be a few chapters more before Sans makes an appearance in the story. 
> 
> For the purposes of this fic, mer skeletons can be out of the water for an extended period of time, but it doesn't feel pleasant if they stay out of the water out for too long. Their ecto tails can get dried out of both moisture and magic, which causes the tail to get dull in color, and it can become brittle and scratchy.


	3. Chapter 3

You introduced yourself to the mer skeleton the very next day after you had found him, but even days later, the mer had yet to do the same for himself. You didn’t blame him though.

If the mer skeleton had had a run in with poachers and had either been wounded in the process of being captured or sometime after, it wasn’t surprising to be met with silence.

You hadn’t asked anything about how he had gotten there, because you were more concerned about the mer getting his wounds treated first. But you did keep offering help as tactfully as you could, even if you got no response, or were turned down.

But as the days went by, you believed that time was running out for the mer skeleton to make a decision. The water the mer skeleton was resting in was rapidly vanishing, and soon there was barely any water, so it did nothing to keep his ecto tail hydrated.

You would keep trying to get some sort of a response other than that mistrustful glare. You just had to find a way to let the mer skeleton know that you weren’t going to hurt him. You kept trying, even though you could see that whatever the mer had been through prevented him from even letting you get anywhere near him hit a few feet. 

But then, there were some minor changes as time went by.

While the mer skeleton continued to refuse any and all help in getting out of the woods, he had begrudgingly allowed you to provide him with food. There was even the occasional few words here and there by day 3 and an actual conversation on the 4th.

Today marked the fifth day that you visited the mer skeleton.

You were ready to put your foot down if the that rainwater wasn’t completely gone by now. You suspected that the mer was using magic to keep the water from evaporating as quickly. But no matter the state of what was now a puddle, you were going to insist that you take the mer out of the woods. You had your argument all planned out to combat any protests, but as soon as you stepped around that familiar oak tree and saw the mer, all thoughts of a verbal back and forth vanished.

The mer skeleton’s normally vibrant orange tail has dulled significantly between yesterday and today. The mer himself was lying half curled on what was now just a patch of wet grass, listlessly staring up at the sky through the tree line. The mer barely spared you a glance before the skull tilted up and resumed the quiet gazing.

It was...a little eerie, if you were being honest with yourself.

You approached the mer skeleton and sat down a short distance away, joining the mer in staring up at the clouds in the sky. Then, you looked down at him, and saw that the skull had lazily turned to the side to meet your gaze.

”i already told you that i don’t want to go anywhere with a human.” The mer said eventually.

”You can’t stay in the woods.” You pointed out. “There’s no water left, and just because it might rain later today doesn’t mean that it is enough for you to hydrate you tail. Or to help with your injuries.”

”they’ll heal on their own.” The mer said, eye lights fixed on you for a moment before the mer skeleton carefully rolled onto his ribs and pushed himself up so that he could sit upright, tail loosely bent at an angle to aid him in that endeavor. “didn’t i tell you to leave me alone the last few days?” 

“I just want to help.” You were startled to hear an exhausted rattle of laughter escape the mer, before you became concerned when he started to cough.

Mer skeleton...could cough? But they didn’t have lungs? Was it related to their magic instead?

”...help...” The mer laughed darkly, hands gripping his humerus as his body shook. “wouldn’t need any help if those humans hadn’t decided to attack my family.”

That was all the confirmation that you needed that it was poachers or maybe even trophy hunters that had gone after this mer. 

“...can I show you the lake?” You switched up tactics. If you couldn’t convince the mer to go with you, then maybe you show him where you hoped to bring him? To show the mer that you didn’t have a hidden agenda?

”...the one you live by?” The mer skeleton asked, letting go of his bones to wrap his arms loosely around his tail. It looked rather awkward to bend the tail around in that manner.

”Yes.” 

The mer stared at you for a few moments, before he turned away from you to look the trees.

You were about to let the issue lie when the mer skeleton spoke.

”persistent, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “sure, show me. not like i’m going anywhere anytime soon.” The mer’s skull tilted toward you. “but how are you going to show me the lake? i told you i’m not gonna go anywhere with...”

”My phone.” You replied, pulling it out of your backpack and holding it up to show the mer. “I can store pictures in this.”

“They had those too.” The mer skeleton’s expression became something of a dark frown.

”Can I come closer?” You continued on. “I don’t think you’d be able to see the screen if I stay here.”

“you...” The mer skeleton studied you for a moment, eye lights quickly scanning the area before going back to you. The mer rolled a bony shoulder in a shrug. “not like i could stop you from coming closer anyway.”

That wasn’t exactly a resounding yes but it wasn’t a no, so you approached the mer skeleton slowly, not wanting to give him any reason to bolt. As you narrowed the distance, you could tell that the mer was tensing up, his arms gripping his tail harder, phalanges restlessly pressing against the ecto. Carefully, you settled on the grass near the mer, regardless of it getting your pants wet. Worth it, if you could reach some kind of an understanding with the mer.

”Here.” You held up your phone and turned it so that the mer skeleton could see the screen. You opened up the photo album and spent a handful of seconds going through each of the pictures of the lake you had taken over the years, and pointed out that you couldn’t even see your neighbor they were so far across the water. 

During the slideshow, the mer slowly leaned over to get a better look at the pictures, even if his body was still tense and looked as though he were ready to drag himself away if need be.

You didn’t say anything, merely allowing the mer to look over the pictures and come to his own conclusions.

The mer could continue to refuse to go anywhere, or he could agree to at least see the lake in person, and make a decision from there. If the mer skeleton didn’t want to go to the lake, or refused to have his wounds seen to in your house, you would take him to the ocean in your car, as reluctant as you would be to do so with his injuries.

”what is that?” The mer skeleton asked suddenly.

”Hm?” You looked down at the phone screen. The photo was of the inside of the cabin from the just inside the front door. “Oh, that’s the inside of my house. I’d taken this picture to see if there was anything I could do for reorganizing the living room.” Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw the mer skeleton’s eye lights flicker with what might have been interest.

”it looks...open.” The mer said, after a few seconds of staring at the photo. “are human homes...supposed to be less cramped?”

“Well...most houses that I’ve been to are pretty open. Some apartments are a little cramped but that has more to do with the available space.” You didn’t even want to begin to think why the mer was questioning the open space. You didn’t want to dwell on the mistreatment the mer likely went through, and instead kept focusing on what you could do to help.

The mer skeleton didn’t say anything but he did keep his eye lights on the phone screen.

To your amusement, one phalange reached over and slid it across the screen, making the photo go to the next one. You were surprised bone was picked up by the screen, but supposed magic had something to do with it.

There was a long silence as the mer swiped through the photos, before the phalange drew away.

You twitched when the mer suddenly leaned against you with a slow sigh. 

“keep going.” The mer’s voice said, skull resting against your shoulder.

Okay...

This was...different.

The mer skeleton had never willingly been this close to you for nearly five days.

You continued to go through the photos, knowing that you had more than enough of the lake and surrounding landscape, along with the sky during various times of the day. The first sign you got that something wasn’t quite right was the way the mer skeleton leaned against you more heavily, and let out a soft, self-deprecating laugh.

The sound was out of place until you found the mer suddenly collapse to the ground alongside you.

What the?

Why had he...?

Hastily pocketing your phone, you leaned over the mer skeleton, checking him as he lie spread out on the grass. There were beads of sweat (magic sweat?) on the mer’s skull, his frame trembling the faintest amount as his hands curled against the ground. You looked beneath his ribs, where his ecto flesh started, and eyed his tail, seeing the nicks here and there that seemed darker than the rest.

Were...were the mer’s wounds infected?

You hoped not.

But...he didn’t look very good right now.

Could it be the lack of water?

”Let me take you to my place.” You told the mer. “I think you need more help with your injuries than you are letting on.”

“m‘fine.” The mer skeleton propped himself up on his elbows, discreetly inching away. “just need to rest.”

“You’ve been saying that for days, and it’s obvious that you aren’t getting any better. Even your tail looks like it is fading away into more of the color of your bones. There’s barely any orange left in it.” You were not going to leave the mer alone again. The more you looked at him, the more it appeared that the mer skeleton did indeed look worse than before. Scooting after the mer as he dragged himself a short distance away, you settled alongside him when dropped back to the ground. The mer was clearly too weak and exhausted to resist whatever you decided to do, but you weren’t going to just touch him without warning. “Is it okay with you if I pick you up? I don’t want to leave you here without any water. I’m going to take you to my cabin, and we’re going to take a look at those injuries.”

The mer skeleton was clearly wary but ended up just sighing as he lightly waved a hand as his skull rested on the grass, echoing some of his earlier words. “not like I can stop you right now.”

You decided you’d deal with the defeatist tone of the mer later, taking his words as half-agreement. If the mer didn’t actually want you to touch him or pick him up, you felt he’d thwack you with his tail like he had before. Inwardly, you thank the fact that you were physically fit as you slid one arm under the middle of the mer’s tail. After checking to make sure that this was okay so far, you brought your other arm carefully around the mer’s spine, and stood up.

The mer skeleton shifted a little in your arms, a hint of surprise in his features, before the expression settled into indifference.

It was lucky that the mer was lighter in weight than he looked. This made it easier to navigate the woods back to your home, since you weren’t struggling with someone who was closer in weight to you.

During the hike back to the cabin, you noticed that the mer seemed to be going through many emotions before he settled on guarded. Then, to your surprise, the mer slowly wrapped his left arm around the back of your neck, holding firm as if thinking that you might possibly drop him. The mer’s other arm rested over his ecto flesh at his waist, phalanges tapping restlessly, occasionally twisting as though he longed to lift the hand to try and shove away from you.

The mer skeleton didn’t do anything.

But the longer you walked, the more you saw the way that mer began to relax in your arms. And when it became clear that no one else was around but the two of you, the mer sagged against you further, even closing his sockets to doze off, apart from a few quick checks of the surroundings now and again.

The walk back took longer since you were carrying extra weight. As soon you emerged from the trees, you stepped onto the beaten path that led to your cabin, passing the lake on your way there. 

”There’s a larger bathtub that you can soak your tail in. As soon as we get your injuries under control, I can bring you out to the lake.” You told the mer skeleton as you approached the front door. “Or drive you to the ocean, if you really don’t want to take the time to recuperate.” The mer was quiet as you shifted your hold on him, but he did move his other arm to go around your neck as you drew out your keys and unlocked the door.

Funny.

You thought he would have said something about driving him to the ocean.

The mer remained tense before he saw that the interior of the house looked very similar to the photos you had showed him earlier. And when you carried him down a hall and showed him the bathroom and the tub, the mer seemed to accept, in a reluctant way, that this was really happening to him.

“Here, let me show you how the tub works.” You settled the mer skeleton on the edge of the bathtub, and went through the steps of how to work the knobs for hot and cold water, as well as pointing out how to plug the drain to keep the water in the tub. “I’m going to figure out something to make for lunch.” You noted the longer cuts in the ecto tail. “Would a human first aid kit help with your injuries?”

“...if you have any monster food, it would help with the healing process.” The mer said after a moment of silence, his phalanges brushing across the knobs of the tub’s facet.

“I’ll take a look at the pantry. I might have to go into town and buy some if I don’t have any monster food.” Since the mer said nothing about the first aid kit, you didn’t bring it up again as you went to leave the bathroom. 

“papyrus.”

You paused, half-turning to give the mer skeleton a curious look.

”my name.” The mer said, not looking at you as he continued to fiddle with the knobs, the tub beginning to fill with water.

”It’s nice to meet you, Papyrus.” You said, not expecting a response as the mer kept his eye lights firmly on the water. As you walked down the hall to the kitchen, you felt your mood lift.

So, his name was Papyrus. 

It was nice to finally learn the name of the mer skeleton you’d unexpectedly met in the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how often I’m going to update this, as it’s going to be more of a update when I got a chapter ready. I think I’ll at least update sometime next week, unless I get a burst of inspiration this weekend to type up the next chapter from the outline.


	4. Chapter 4

You rummaged through your pantry, not sure what you had to offer in the way of monster food. There hadn’t been any monsters out to visit you since last summer, so you hadn’t yet gone out to get some food for those potential visits from friends. The good thing was that monster food didn’t spoil.

Much to your relief, you found some monster food in packages at the very top of your pantry. Setting it all out on the counter, you did one last perusal of your pantry and some cupboards, to make sure that you found all that you had to offer.

Which led you to an important discovery.

A small bag of monster candy. At the sight of that bag, you did vaguely recall that one of your monster friends, a dog monster, had given it to you. As a ‘just in case’ kind of a thing.

Whoops.

You should probably bring one piece with you when you went for a hike in the woods.

But right now, you drew out a piece of candy out of the bag, and put the rest back in the pantry. Before you made any food for lunch, you felt that you ought to offer the monster candy to Papyrus. It would help the mer skeleton heal himself a little faster than just resting and eating monster food. When you entered the bathroom after a quick knock on the open door, you stopped short at the sight of Papyrus hissing at something that was around the waist of his ecto tail.

Papyrus stopped what he was doing, skull raising to meet your eyes, as his phalanges continued to tug at something clear around his ecto.

”What is that?” You asked, frowning a little as Papyrus shifted uncomfortably in the tub, splashing water a little. 

“...s’nothing.” Papyrus murmured, looking down at his tail. “i can deal with it...”

”Is that _plastic_?” You gasped. Why in the world hadn’t you seen that most of the mer’s tail appeared to be covered in clear plastic except for the tail fin? Had that plastic been there the whole time? And you didn’t notice? That was horrible. You needed to find something to get rid of all that plastic. 

“Hang on! I have something that can help get rid of that.” You left the bathroom, all but running into the kitchen to wrench open the drawers in search for a scissor. There was no way you would bring a knife near the mer. You couldn’t imagine that going well at all. Scissor in hand, you returned to the bathroom.

“what are you doing?” Papyrus asked, his sockets narrowing at you and the scissor in your hand.

”I can cut through the plastic with this.” You approached the tub, and saw the way that Papyrus scrunched up in the tub, water sloshing around. “Okay...well, can I show you how to use it, so you can do the rest yourself?”

”...briefly.” Papyrus said, easing himself out of the stiff posture he’d been in.

You were careful to find the top of the plastic with one of Papyrus’ phalange tugging it up away from his ecto, to give you room to cut the plastic. You trimmed the plastic, showing off how you were snipping with the scissor before stopping and handing you off the scissor to Papyrus by its handle. As soon as Papyrus took the scissor, you took a few steps back to give the mer skeleton space.

Papyrus fumbled with the scissor for a moment before he got the hang of it, and began the process of removing the rest of the plastic.

As the plastic was dumped over the side of the tub, you were unable to withhold a gasp of surprise at the thin, short, and almost translucent fins that were revealed. They unfurled from either side of Papyrus’ tail, starting just below the ribs to just above the tail fin.

Papyrus gratefully flexed these elongated yer small fins as he sagged backward in the tub. His tail fin slowly waved up and down over the end of the tub. The mer let the scissor drop onto the tile of the floor, but he wouldn’t look at you for some reason.

You realize that it is because he is staring at his injured ecto body. Monster candy in hand, you stepped forward and held it out, making sure to not crowd the mer.

”what is that?” Papyrus’ skull turned to regard the wrapper in your hand.

”Monster candy.” You said, watching the way the mer’s brow bone twitched in something like surprise. “A monster friend of mine gave it to me last summer.” You kept your hand held out as bony fingers reached out to take the wrapper.

Papyrus opened the candy wrapper and broke off a piece of the candy by crushing it in his hand. He kept a small shard of it, and deposited the rest of it back into your palm. “a small piece of monster candy goes a long way.” Once he made sure you didn’t drop the candy, Papyrus didn’t say anything as he tossed the piece he held between his blunt teeth.

You decided to leave him be for now, to see to his injuries, and figured that you could make a late lunch with the monster food you found of the mer, and whatever there was for you to eat. You weren’t too picky right now, as you would just go through the food you had now, and go shopping in town when you needed to stock up on supplies

Which might be soon, considering that your offering of monster food wouldn’t last more than a couple of days. Maybe just a week if you included non-magic based food. Cooking a meal allowed you to slip into something of a comfortable routine, always loving the way that you could incorporate human and monster ingredients together. Satisfied with the meal you’d prepared, you brought a plate of food for the mer to the bathroom.

The mer skeleton was fast asleep in the tub, his skull half off the other end of the tub as his tail fin hung limply over the other side.

You quietly left the plate of food on the sink, figuring that the mer needed the rest after being in the woods without knowing whether or not were poachers or hunters after him. You went about your evening in something of a daze, though you did periodically checked in on Papyrus, who continued to be asleep in the tub.

Dinner came and went, and with nothing else for you to do, you ended up going to bed. Only, you didn’t sleep through till morning like you normally did. You were woken in the middle of the night by a loud noise.

Papyrus.

Was he okay?

No one had followed the two of you back to the cabin, had they?

Before you could really start to worry about someone potentially breaking and entering, you realized that the sounds were coming from the bathroom, where you had left Papyrus. Stepping into the hall confirmed this, as well as showing you something else that you hadn’t expected. 

The bathroom door was thrown open, the door itself impaled by all manner of bones, you wondered if you ought to keep away. But...you also didn’t want the mer to hurt himself in his sleep. Squaring your shoulders, you walked forward, and peered inside of the bathroom to see what was going on.

Papyrus was out of the tub and on the tile, thrashing with his tail smacking against floor, wall and tub. The mer’s left socket was closed but his right eye was wide open, and glowing orange.

White bones, as well as orange, manifested in varying sizes and shape, which were flung in all directions to skewer the walls, floor and the hall walls.

Holy _shit._

What was going on?

You duck away from the open doorway as Papyrus bared his blunt teeth at you and sent bones your way with a jerk of one of his hands.

“don’t touch him!” Papyrus voice was hoarse. He sounded like he was in pain. “don’t touch my brother! give him back!” Several larger bones lodged into the wall close to where you were hiding, having broken through the bathroom wall. “give him back! G i v e h i m b a c k!”

A nightmare?

You slowly back away and go to your bedroom to retrieve a blanket. There was only one thing to do, and while that should have been keeping away, you weren’t going to stand for your grandparents’ home being destroyed further.

After another volley of bones and a snarl, you rushed into the bathroom and tackled the mer after tossing the blanket over his skull, intending to disorient him. It worked, as Papyrus briefly halted his attack long enough for you to wrap his upper body in that blanket. Then, you pinned him beneath the ribs with your thighs as you threw your upper body onto the rest of his tail to wrap your arms around it.

”Papyrus!”

A muffled growl emitted from the blanket.

“You’re all right!” You raised your voice over the growls. “No one will hurt you here! You’re safe in my home!” Holding tight to the tail, you added. “Stop! Some of your injuries are reopening!” You’d seen the darker orange on the floor.

The thrashing abruptly stopped moments later as the mer let out a sharp intake.

Carefully, you slid off of his ecto tail, and gently move the blanket so that his skull is revealed. “Are you all right?”

The eye lights were back to white in place of the single orange glow. There was clear exhaustion in Papyrus’ expression. Nothing was said as you held still while Papyrus arranged his upper body against you own, while his tail curled the lower half lightly but securely against you.  


Okay...that was...

You weren’t sure how you’d gone from mistrust to suddenly having a mer pressed against you.

Maybe he was too worn out from his nightmare? Night terror?

Papyrus remained where he was, not moving away from you nor pushing away when he finally seemed to be back fully in the present.  A mumble came from the mer that  you didn’t think Papyrus meant for you to hear, it was so quiet.

”...i’ll try, bro. for you.”

You didn’t mean to fall asleep with a mer resting against your side. But when you woke, you found yourself curled up on the tiled floor of the bathroom with a blanket draped over you.

Papyrus was back in the tub, fast asleep.

You look him over and were pleased to find  that his injuries had closed back up again, even if they’ll take some time to fully heal.And better yet, most of the monster food that you had brought him earlier had been eaten. 

When you check on Papyrus later, he was awake.

“the monster food and candy healed up the worst of the wounds.” Papyrus’ phalanges tapped against the tub. “being in the lake would do me some good. if i can catch my own food it will help get my strength back up more quickly.”

You had the feeling that Papyrus wouldn’t want to remain in your house for very long. And since it looked like his reopened wounds had closed over night, like you’d seen earlier, you complied with his request. Carefully, you reached into the tub and hefted Papyrus up into your arms, careful of  the translucent side fins.  


Papyrus’ arms wrapped around your shoulders loosely as you carried him out of your cabin and toward the lake.

It was quiet that morning, like it always was.

And as you carried Papyrus down along the dock, you could feel him perking up, his eye lights brightening. You adjusted your hold on the mer, and helped lower Papyrus into the lake at the end of the dock. As soon as Papyrus let go of you and slid smoothly into the lake the rest of the way, you spoke. “If you’d like, I can bring you more monster food. I’m guessing that you’d like to recover as fast as possible, so you can get back home sooner.” You shot a quick appreciative glance around the lake. “I realize that this lake is tiny in comparison to an open ocean, but I hope you’ll like it while you’re here.”

Papyrus stared at you quietly for a moment before he slipped beneath the surface of the water.

You didn’t linger as you went back into your home, and mused over meal options. After that, you checked how often you’d need to go grocery shopping. Especially if you were going to provide food not just for yourself but for someone else instead of the occasional visitor.Once you figure it out, you took care of a load of laundry before preparing lunch. You brought two plates outside to the dock, staring at the afternoon sky across the lake as you say down.

It was very peaceful.

“why are you doing this for me?” Papyrus’ voice was suddenly close by.

You were quiet for a time as you set the second plate down for the mer. “I want to try and make a difference in someone’s life whenever I can.” You stare down at your own plate. “I could have used someone like that in my life years ago.”

Papyrus reached for the plate you’d left within reach, and ate the meal in silence with you. The mer stared at you again before he set the plate down. Papyrus hesitated for a moment before his expression darkened, like he’d thought of something. The mer disappeared back beneath the surface of the water.

You picked up both plates to bring back inside and cleaned up.You repeat the whole process for dinner later on, between going through your lake album, and this time, when Papyrus appeared by the dock, he was completely silent. But you can tell that he is still studying you, since his eye lights were fixed on you. Like he couldn’t figure you out.

Once the two of you parted for the night, you went to bed, and stared up at the ceiling for a time.

What an…interesting day this had been.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, Sans isn't in the best of shape, mentally or physically, when the reader comes across him.

The next few days passed by at a lackadaisical pace.

You went about your daily routine, which consisted of relaxing and enjoying the quiet of the lake. Your daily routine also grew to include shared meals with Papyrus, who surfaced at the end of the dock whenever you drew close by. Sometimes, you would find the mer skeleton lazily swimming about, or floating along the surface of the water. Other times, usually around lunch time, Papyrus could be found sunning himself on the small area of sand to one side of the dock, out of sight of the dirt road.

By the end of the week, you knew that you would need to go into town to get more food. Your pantry and fridge were getting a bit sparse, especially for monster food. And since you hadn’t yet spent any time away from the cabin since Papyrus had been in the lake, you decided to let him know you that you were going to be gone for a few hours.

“Papyrus?” You called out at the end of the dock. You couldn’t see him but had the feeling he could sense when you walked on the dock. Turning your head at a faint splash, you found the mer watching by you. Papyrus had that guarded look but the distrust you’d seen before had lessened the longer he was left to his own devices in the lake. “Hey, I’m going to go into town to stock up on groceries. I’m running low on monster food, so I wanted to ask you if there was anything that you would like, or would be interested in trying.”

“anything is fine.” Papyrus said, as he swam a little closer to the dock, sighing a little when you sat down. “if you really mean it, then...” The mer paused, before he listed off a few suggestions, orange ecto tail flicking at the surface of the water.

”Got it.” You said, after you entered the grocery items into your phone’s notes. “It’s a bit of a hike to get to town, even in a car. I probably won’t get back until after dinner time.”

”there’s fish to eat. s’no problem.” Papyrus swam a little ways away from the dock as he smiled lazily. “not like i am going to go anywhere.” The mer lapsed into silence as he stared down at the water before vanishing beneath it.

You left the dock and headed for your car. You really wanted to wanted to ask Papyrus about his brother, but since he’d had a nightmare days ago, you don’t want to press for information. It didn’t sound like his brother had fared well, with whatever they had been through. If Papyrus wanted to talk to you, he could. If not, then it wasn’t any of your business to pry.You would just continue to provide food for him and a safe place to rest, until Papyrus was recovered enough to bring him back to the ocean.

-x-x-x-

The little town you lived nearest to was the same as it always was.

The same people greeted you and exchanged friendly banter, as well as politely asked you how your stay out of the city was going. 

You were even amused to discover the same gossip about the rain was the same as the last time you’d been here.  Old man Pops sure stuck by to his claim that the storm clouds were drawn to this town like a magnet.

Deciding to catch a bite to eat at the diner before you went grocery shopping may or may not have been a good idea, seeing as it threw you a second curveball for the summer.

You were glad your back was to a small group of men and women as you ate, becuase you’re sure you wore a surprised look when you realized that they were talking about mermaids. Some part of you was pleased when the locals completely ignored the obvious outsiders, which irritated at least one of the people, who loudly complained about no one seeing any mermaids at all around this part even though they had been proven to exist.

The talk made you...uncomfortable.

It made you recall the way Papyrus had reacted while in the throes of his nightmare, demanding his brother back. It was clear he and his brother had been attacked, or captured, being so far away from the ocean.

You say nothing and merely mind your own business in that diner as you eat your meal, before nonchalantly heading for the grocery store.

The group in the diner didn’t pay you any mind, for which you were grateful.

You were unable to think about your grocery list very well, as your thoughts began to linger on Papyrus’ brother.

Those people in the diner rubbed you the wrong way, what with all of their mermaid talk, and specifically, their bickering about mer skeletons being slippery little bastards and vanishing into thin air. About a man debating with one of his fellows wondering if a mer skeleton could move about on land and if so, how long could one be left on land for an extended period of time.

That had been oddly specific.

Once your groceries are loaded up in your car and you were headed out of town, you resolve to speak to Papyrus about his brother. There was a feeling you had, about why the mer skeleton hadn’t pressed for you to take him back to the ocean yet.  


Papyrus wanted to find his brother.

As you guided your car along the dirt path that led through the woods, you just happened to be driving slow enough to notice something odd.Had you not seen Papyrus while he was wounded, you would have dismissed the weird patch of vegetation crushed off the side of the emergency pull off. It didn’t look like anything out do the ordinary, but still...

You didn’t remember that being there the last time you had driven back up to your lake cabin, so you pulled over to investigate.

It was a good thing you had chosen to wear your hiking boots, because the crushed leaves and fallen twigs went on for awhile.

Making sure that your car was locked, you followed the trail of disturbed vegetation through the woods, not really expecting to find anything. You certainly hadn’t expected to come across another injured mer skeleton.

This was definitely not a normal summer at all.

You lingered next to a tree, much like when you’d first come across Papyrus, as you looked this new mer over.

This mer skeleton was smaller and stockier than Papyrus, but unlike Papyrus, this mer was much more severely wounded. They were still bleeding marrow all over, from both their bones and ecto tail. The small mer even had a length of chain attached to a collar, that appeared to be broken at the end.

Was this...

Was this what the people at the diner meant, about whether mer skeleton could move on land or if they could be left on land for an extended period of time? Those people were high on your list as being the ones responsible for what you were seeing right now.

While Papyrus seemed to have been harmed by nature, this mer huddled on the ground in a tight ball had clearly been specifically harmed by someone.

You look around, checking to see if there were any cameras. You found them on occasion when you went out hiking, and reported them to the local sheriff in town, as these woods were a no hunting ground. You don’t find any kind of cameras, or any gear at all near the wounded mer. Emboldened, you move a little closer to get a better look at the mer.

The mer skeletons’s light blue ecto tail was covered in scars, as well as fresh injuries that were still sluggishly leaking that light blue marrow.There was a collar embedded in the mer’s vertebrae around the neck.There were also cuffs clamped tightly around both wrists, digging into bone, and a similar cuff was pressed deeply into the ecto tail just above the fin. The fin itself...it was in tatters, as though someone had frayed it intentionally.The mer’s skull was undamaged, as far as you tell, since the mer was tightly curled in on themself, the ruined tip of the tail alongside the skull, bony arms wrapped tight around the tail.

The mer was shaking and rattling.

You felt disgust for whoever had done this to the mer skeleton, and carefully approached, making your presence known by stepping on leaves and sticks.

Unlike Papyrus, who had attacked, this mer curled up further into a ball and issued out a whimper, as if expecting you to harm them.

You reached the mer him and knelt down, speaking softly to them. “This may be sudden, but can I take you to a quiet lake?I’m the only one who lives in the cabin that’s there, and right now, there’s another mer skeleton recuperating in the lake.” You think you might have seen some blue eye lights look at you before hiding away again. You continued on.  “I found him trapped in a shallow pool a week ago, injured.He’s doing better now.”

The mer skeleton half uncurled this time to peek at you with dim blue eye lights, before they curled up again and quivered.

”The mer up at the lake has orange colored magic. His name is Papyrus.” You don’t think you imagined the mer going completely still before staring up at you, chain rattling a little as they turned. “Is it presumptuous of me to assume that you were the brother Papyrus was talking about?” You found a hook in the chain and removed it from the collar around the mer’s neck. “He seemed upset about something happening to his brother the first night he was up at my cabin, and-“

You were surprised when the mer launched onto you and latched their arms tightly around the back of your neck. The mer was trembling but leaned back slightly to look at you with a worried expression in his sockets, reaching his wide grin of set teeth. Finally, the mer spoke hesitantly, as if they hadn’t spoke in a long time. The teeth had parted to show off little canines.   


“...Take me to my brother.”

So this _was_ Papyrus’ brother.

...no wonder he didn’t trust you when you’d first stumbled upon him.

”Then let’s go.” You had the strange urge to hug this mer skeleton and tell him everything was going to be all right. But you didn’t want to cross him and you were surprised that the mer had his arms around the back of your neck to begin with. “Is it okay for me to carry you to my car?”

The mer appeared nervous even as his arms hugged your around the back of the neck tighter. Finally, he gave a small nod.

You picked the mer skeleton up.

He was even lighter than Papyrus.

As you walked back to your car with a mer held in your arms, you made sure to keep a look out for anything else out of the ordinary. You were not sure what to make of the mer’s arms shifting slightly so that his claws lightly tapped against the back of your neck. The mer seemed compliant enough but you did get a bit of an uncomfortable chill down your spine over how unwavering those claws remained in the same area.

When you reached the emergency pull off you made certain no other car was around before carrying the mer to the passenger side of your car. 

The claws dug into skin the faintest amount.

”Ease up there.” You told the mer as you shifted him to one arm to open the door. “I’m not going to drop you.”

The claws twitched against your skin before retracting them.

You awkwardly arranged the mer on the seat, leaving him to wrap his arms around himself as he stared straight ahead. Rummaging around in the trunk, you retrieved a blanket and brought it out to offer to the mer skeleton. Those blue eye lights flickered for a moment before the mer slowly, carefully, reached out for the blanket, as if expecting you to move it out of range. 

The mer stared at the fabric for a moment before he hugged it tightly to his chest, translucent tears silently falling down from his sockets.

You really wanted to hug this poor mer but refrained. If he had been abused by those humans you’d seen earlier, then you didn’t think the mer would want to be touched by you, or even comforted. And those claws from earlier still made you very uncomfortable, because it almost seemed as if the mer had considered attacking you after all, if you had done something to make him feel unsafe. So you got into your car and drove on, speaking aloud now and again to let the mer know how much further it was to the lake.

Parking in front of the cabin, you got out and cast a look in the direction of the lake. You didn’t see Papyrus.

Okay...

Then you’d bring in this mer skeleton first and then go get Papyrus.

Opening the passenger door, you picked up a still rather complaint mer skeleton, the light blue ecto tail twitching the only outward sign the mer realized he was being moved. You swiftly entered your house, and brought the mer, blanket and all, to the couch, and carefully laid him down. Screw the marrow getting on the fabric. You wanted this mer to be comfortable while you went and got his brother. “I’ll be right back with Papyrus.” You told the mer skeleton, arranging pillows around him to allow him to huddle against them.

Back outside, you ignored the groceries in your car as you headed for the dock. If the groceries went bad, they went bad. Papyrus and his brother were more important right now. You felt some relief when you saw that Papyrus was drifting along at the end of the dock.

Papyrus perked up when he saw you, and his eye lights brightened at the sight of the light blue marrow all over your front. His sockets narrowed at you.

”I found your brother.” You told him firmly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. “I need your help. He’d hurt, and I want to get the restraints off of him.”

”you found sans?” Papyrus breathed, looking torn between wanting to believing you and not wanting to get his hopes up.

”His ecto tail is light blue and after I told him your name, he wanted me to take him to his brother.” You were surprised at how quickly Papyrus moved, heaving himself out of the water and onto the dock, looking as though he were prepared to drag himself all the way to the house if he had to. You helped Papyrus along by picking him up and carrying him straight into the house and over to the couch. 

Papyrus slid out of your arms and dropped onto the couch alongside his brother, his tail fin waving in agitation.

Sans.

Papyrus had called his brother Sans.

And Sans was currently hiding under the blanket you’d given him, the mer rattling and quivering again. 

“sans, i’m sorry.” Papyrus gently ran a hand over the blanket, tugging it back to reveal the top of a skull. “i’m sorry we got separated.”

Sans let out a choked sob and flung himself at his brother to wrap him in a hug, the blanket sliding down and revealing all the injuries, new and old.

You saw the moment Papyrus saw those wounds, as his eye lights vanished from his sockets as he slowly urged Sans back against the pillows.

”...Papy?” 

You froze in place over the way they orange glow appeared in Papyrus’ right eye socket.

Sans reacted to the sight by uttering out a faint whimper and curling into that tight ball again, ecto tail hiding the mer’s face.

The glow vanished in an instant as Papyrus let out a sharp breath. Eye lights back to normal, Papyrus hesitantly reached out to his brother, who slowly uncurled with a nervous look, before letting out a sigh himself.

”Don’t...get angry.” Sans looked away, his shoulders slumping. The mer’s set grin seemed to turn down at the corners, a flash of those little fangs coming now and again as he spoke. “What happened, happened. You can’t change it.” Sans let out another soft sigh as he saw Papyrus’ attention go to his tail, and obligingly lifted it for his brother to look at.

The bigger mer looked like he was going to lose himself again over the sight of the ruined tail fin.

Sans gave his brother a half-hearted swat with said tail tip, drawing Papyrus out of the anger that had begun to rise again.

You didn’t know what to say or do, and could only watch as Papyrus wordlessly wrapped his brother in another hug and had a breakdown.

The orange tail looped protectively around Sans as Papyrus muttered apologizes and made promises to find whoever had done this to him and make them pay.

Throughout it all, Sans merely held his brother in return, looking worn out and demoralized.

”y/n?”

You jumped at being addressed by Papyrus by name.

”I need your help to remove these...restraints.” Papyrus’ voice was as weary as his brother looked.

”I’ll go find some tools.” 

Seeing the two mer brothers huddled together on the couch, you couldn’t help but want to make sure that both of them were able to recover here in peace.

And to make certain that group of people back at the diner never set foot near this lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I finally got this chapter edited. For whatever reason, it wanted to be difficult for the first half of the chapter, and is still a little...off, but I’d like to continue on with the story and not remain stuck on this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

The manacles had to go, like Papyrus had said, but that was going to be tricky. Mainly due to how closely Sans was curled up against his brother, and how wary Sans was of your presence. He didn’t seem too keen on letting go of Papyrus any time soon, and was eying you now and again, as though Sans believed you might take him away. 

No one would separate the two mer ever again.

You’d see to that to the best of your ability, because making concrete promises to both mer seemed like it may mean nothing to them when it came from a human. 

“I’ll be right back.” Leaving Papyrus to comfort Sans, you left the cabin and went into the small garage to get the tools you thought would be best to get the metal off from around Sans' wrists and tail. You were already mentally preparing yourself for just how difficult it was going to be to get rid of the collar. Not to mention that this was going to be painful for the smaller mer-skeleton, no matter how careful you were with the tools. As soon as you returned, Papyrus addressed you.

”take them off of him.” Papyrus shifted Sans around in the blanket he had wrapped himself in, exposing the smaller mer’s wrists.

Sans’ tail fin twitched against the couch in a nervous tattoo as you came closer with your tools.

Aware of the way Papyrus watched closely, you addressed Sans directly.

”I’m going to start with your wrists and then your tail. I’ll do my best to not hurt you, but there’s no way to tell if all of metal will come off without causing damage.” You were not touching the collar until you were sure you’d be able to not to cause any harm to the vertebrae. “We’ll go slow, so you can let me know if you need to take a break.” You held up a small tool to show both mer, before you began to pick the locks of the cuffs locked around bone. Whenever Sans made as if to drag his hands out of your grasp, you were quick to hold still and let him move his hand away. When he stilled, you would take the mer’s hand again, and work on the lock. This back and forth continued until both manacles dropped away from Sans’ wrists.

Papyrus’ eye lights vanished over the sight of the manacles being so tight that it had rubbed a mark into Sans’ bone.

You waited for a moment, cautious, but once Papyrus went back to soothing his brother, you carefully coaxed the tail fin up and onto your lap, as it had slid off the couch earlier. Working on the metal that dug into light blue ecto-flesh, you took longer because you didn’t want to cause Sans any further distress. You tried to, anyway, but the metal was embedded so deeply, and as the metal was pried away, marrow began to well up.

Sans let out several soft, chirp-like noises against Papyrus’ shoulder as the metal was carefully pulled away from his tail, his arms squeezing around his brother’s neck.

Papyrus’ right socket glowed a soft orange as he rested a hand on the ecto-tail, healing the damage that had been done. But there seemed to be a limit to the healing magic, since the mark from the metal remained, scarring pale white over light blue.

When it seemed that Papyrus had forgotten about you in favor of reassuring his brother, you left the cabin again to go get your groceries from the car. As you expected, some went bad, but you honestly didn’t care. Sans had needed the help and you were happy that both mer-skeletons were reunited. Had Papyrus not been around, you would have been hard-pressed to know what to do with such an injured mer, who shied away from your touch, when you were only trying to help.

But you also understood Sans’ hesitation.

From the state you found him in, Sans had been treated horribly. You couldn’t even begin to imagine what he had been subjected to.

”can you fill up that tub?” Papyrus asked, once you’d come back to check on them.

”Sure.” You were glad he had asked. You wanted these two mer to be comfortable in your presence. You’d meant it when you told Papyrus that he could take all the time he needed to recuperate before driving him back to the sea. The same held true for Sans, and you hoped that Papyrus knew that. 

Yawning, you entered the bathroom to fill up the bathtub. While waiting, you were faced toward the door, and saw when Papyrus came into view. He looked to be having difficulty balancing his brother in one arm while using his other arm to place a hand against the wall, trying to remain upright. It looked to be an awkward flop along the floor. Within the doorway, you could see that Papyrus was trying to decide if he could make it the rest of the way.

”Sans?”

The smaller mer-skeleton nervously looked up at you, his arms squeezing around Papyrus’ neck.

“Is it okay with you if I carry you over to the tub? I don’t want Papyrus to fall flat on his face.” You asked the mer, casting a quick glance Papyrus’ way.

“That’s...I...” Sans slowly let go of his brother’s neck. “Yes. You may. So long as Papyrus is here.” 

You meet Papyrus’ eye lights, and you feel like the two of you have some sort of a silent exchange before he carefully holds Sans out. With as much care as you can show, you take Sans in your arms and carefully carry him over to the tub, and lower him into it, so he doesn’t have to remain in your arms any longer than was needed to do the task. A smile rises on your lips over the way the smaller mer lets out a happy little sigh and sinks further down in the water.

“Feels nice.” Sans half curled up in the water, as a bony hand reached over the side of the tub. You moved out of the way so that Papyrus could settle himself against the tub and take the hand.

You leave the two mer-skeletons alone and go make something to eat. You were certain that Sans would be hungry, from how you had found him. When you brought the plate of monster food into the bathroom, you left it to Papyrus to coax Sans into eating some of it, even if the little mer looked like he very much didn’t want to eat anything made by you.

Understandable, but it made you want to go sucker punch whoever was responsible for doing this to the mer-skeletons.

Hours passed before Papyrus peered out of the bathroom to catch you on your way from the bedroom to living room.

”i want to get the collar off.” Papyrus quietly told you, dragging himself back into the bathroom to reach over and gently pull Sans into an upright position.

You could see that Sans was dozing fitfully in the tub, before your gaze dropped to the collar embedded in the bone.

“once the collar is off, i plan to stay here. i don’t want to go back to the lake. not yet. i can’t leave sans by himself.” Papyrus searched your face before looking away, looking angry with himself. “no offense to you. i know now that you don’t intend to harm me, or my brother. but sans doesn’t know that.” Papyrus gently ran his other hand across Sans’ skull. “i am...i just...i don’t know how affected my brother is by whatever happened to him. he isn’t himself at all.” Papyrus leaned Sans against the side of the tub so that he could hold him close, as if Papyrus believed he could heal whatever was wrong with magic that sparked around him. “he’s much too quiet. subdued. it hurts...to see him like this. sans is always so vibrant and full of life. adventurous and energetic, ready to make friends with as many people as he could meet.”

This was the most you had ever heard Papyrus talk.

”it may hurt him, but the collar needs to be removed. now.” Papyrus carefully lifted Sans out of the tub and folded his long ecto-tail awkwardly in order to prop Sans up. “i can’t think of any way to carefully do this, so do whatever it takes to get it off of him. i can use some magic to numb the pain.”

Between Papyrus’ words and Sans lying there so still, you didn’t argue with the mer. You only went and got some tools, and returned to find Papyrus running a hand over Sans’ skull again.

”it’ll be okay, bro. gonna get that collar off.” 

It made you uncomfortable to see the smaller mer so motionless and complainant, but you and Papyrus both needed to focus. You, on carefully removing pieces of metal as you broke it apart, careful to not damage the bone, and Papyrus, to heal the spots you exposed, while also keeping Sans in what appeared to be a sedated state.

Sans didn’t remain unconscious for long, the further the removal of the collar came to the pieces stuck in between his cervical vertebrae. A low, garbled scream slipped out of Sans, his hands uselessly twitching against the pain. Despite the magic Papyrus used on him, Sans soon began to plead, translucent tears rolling down his cheekbones.

”N-No, please. Don’t. Stop.” Sans writhed around on the floor of the bathroom, but was held tightly in place by Papyrus. “Hurts. Papy. It _hurts_. Make it stop.” Sans’ eye lights vanished, the tears continuing to fall as his pleads changed into a musical sounding language mixed in with chirps and warbles.

You focused close on the last few pieces of the collar that still needed to be removed, and Sans let out a low, desperate sob before completely falling silent, skull lolling to the side as his body began to tremble, bones rattling and ecto-tail twitching. The collar was finally gone, the last few pieces tossed into a trash can, but you could feel tears stinging your eyes.

Sans let out a single warbling sound that made Papyrus look as if he’d been punched.

“i got you.” Papyrus brought his phalanges carefully to Sans’ vertebrae and poured healing magic over the damage left behind by the collar. “you’re gonna be okay.” Papyrus’ looked haunted, as if he had been the one to torture his brother, instead of dealing with the aftermath of what someone else had done to Sans. “won’t let those guys hurt you anymore.”

Without even being asked, you drained the tub and refilled it, before helping Papyrus into the tub awkwardly, as he refused to let go of Sans. It seemed like Papyrus wanted Sans to have a familiar presence with him when he recovered his senses.

This was proven when you saw Sans stir, reaching up with a shaky hand to feel his neck. Sans let out a hoarse whimper at what he felt before clinging to his brother.

”don’t think there’s anything more you can do for us right now...y/n.” Papyrus hugged his brother close, as if expecting him to vanish if he were to let go. “if there’s anything later on, i can come and find you.”

You didn’t trust yourself to speak, so you only nodded to show that you’d heard the mer, and then left the bathroom, not stopping until you were outside. Violently chopping wood was not therapeutic enough as it could have been but you’d rather be calm and level-minded once you went back to the cabin.

Papyrus and Sans didn’t need to see you like this.

You didn’t want to feel like this.

So you chopped wood until it wore you out, took a quick dip in the lake since the bathroom was occupied, and then crashed on the couch to be within hearing range of the bathroom.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the hurt/comfort/recovery can really begin. I did intend for there to be romance but that’s gonna take awhile to get to, considering what happened.


	7. Chapter 7

Sans refused to leave your bathroom for an entire week. 

During this week, you could only get as far as the entryway of the bathroom, because as soon Sans caught sight of you, he would let out an alarmed squeak. He would sometimes attempt to dive beneath the water in the tub. Other times, the mer curled up into a ball and whimpered. Sans would also go completely stock-still, eye lights gone from his sockets, until you left his line of sight. You didn’t take offense to Sans’ reactions. The sight only made you inwardly upset, thinking about just how terribly Sans must have been treated before you came across him in the woods. 

It worried you at times that Sans would refuse to eat anything you made, but Papyrus was an enormous help when it came to offering the smaller mer food. Papyrus’ help made it so much easier to make sure Sans had access to monster food. You’d bring the plates to just outside the bathroom door, where the larger mer would meet you, skull dipping in what seemed to be a thankful nod.

The routine remained much the same each day, morning, afternoon and evening, and in between mealtimes

You would hand the plates of monster food to Papyrus. Then, wait while he moved further into the room. Despite the angle Papyrus had to twist his ecto body. The larger mer didn’t complain about the way he had to drag himself across the tile each time he went to and from the door, and propped himself against the side of the tub.

Papyrus never dropped any of the plates.

As soon as he was settled, this signaled it was fine to leave the two mer be. And you also knew that as soon as you went to another area of the house, or outside, that Papyrus would spend anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour coaxing his brother into eating the food. You did this trip several times a day, always making certain that both mer were offered something to eat.

Some days, you even brought other items to the mer, such as blankets and pillows, when Papyrus requested them. There weren’t many conversation between you and the larger mer, apart from those requests, and you didn’t expect there to be. Not when Papyrus was occupied making sure his brother ate, and otherwise took care of himself. Heck, you were certain both mer skeletons were struggling to find some semblance of normalcy after what had happened to them.

You were patient.

You didn’t want to pressure the mer skeletons into speaking to you if they didn’t want to.

You had intended to give them a safe space to be by bringing them up to your lakeside home, and offer meals to them while they recuperated. You didn’t expect anything from them for giving them a safe sanctuary. And to make sure they didn’t think you expected something of them, you made sure to give them space and time alone without your presence too close by.

But you’d made to certain emphasize to both mer skeletons that you would be around within shouting distance if they really needed something from you when you happened to go outside.

Occasionally, when you brought the mer skeletons food, you would catch glimpses of Sans buried among the soft fabric Papyrus had requested. The smaller mer would only be just outside the tub, and often a quivering mess, even with the reassuring hand of his brother over one of his scapulas, or Papyrus being close by, watchful, but also with a worried pinch to his brow bone. The sight often left you desperately wanting to wrap your arms around Sans to give him a hug. To let him know everything would be okay. Sometimes you even wanted to hug Papyrus to give him the same reassurances.

But you didn’t.

You knew that your presence right now would do nothing but cause further distress. It was better to keep your distance, and let Sans decide if he wanted to engage with you or not.

This was more difficult than it seemed.

Every time you saw Sans curled in on himself, the urge to hold him protectively against you in your arms rose up.

You resisted the urge, each time, and spent that tense first week lightly sleeping on the couch in the living room. You’d been serious that you wanted to be within reach of one or both of the mer skeletons at night in the event that they happened to call for you. A few of those nights when you woke, you found that if you listened closely, you’d occasionally hear soft chirps or low warbling sniffles, almost always followed by whispered, sympathetic chirps or murmurs.

It upset you, again, to hear these instances of how miserable Sans was. To think that someone would hurt another living being like that...

Silently, each and every morning, you vowed to do everything in your power to help the two mer recover.

To get them back home.

Even if they never really fully trusted you, all that mattered to you was that Sans and Papyrus were comfortable, and that they had a safe place to stay for as long as they needed. You’d provide them this temporary sanctuary, where they didn’t have to worry about being tracked down by whomever harmed them before you met them. You’d mulled over it, the day you’d brought Sans to your home. The people who harmed these mer...you made the assumption that it was the doubt of those people back in town. The outsiders, who’d been asking after mermaids. By your estimation, you were far enough out from town that you didn’t think it possible anyone would bother to come out here to look.

But if someone did come out here and try to start shit? You’d make them think twice about coming anywhere near the two mer.

Sometime near dawn, after a fitful night of sleep, you woke up.

It was the start of a new week, and you were greeted with the sight of the sun just beginning to peek up over the lake. The reason for your wakening was not only light slumber, but the soft ‘thump’ of something on the carpet. Squinting up at the ceiling, you lie still, listening.

There it was again.

That soft thumping sound was getting closer.

Blinking blurriness from your sleepy eyes, you sat up with a yawn. That was when you saw it.

Sans was out of the bathroom.

You watched as the smaller mer drag-flopped himself across the carpeted floor toward you, an intense look of concentration on Sans’ face. Was that...was that a light blue tongue poking out between his teeth? 

Oh.

_Oh_.

That was unexpectedly adorable. 

But...you thought that Sans didn’t want to be anywhere near you? At least as far as you could tell from his reactions to you after you’d met him. After most times when you brought the mer meals. Hadn’t Sans only allowed you to pick him up and bring him to your home because Papyrus was here? And because the mer hadn’t been able to move himself through the undergrowth, without great difficulty?

”Papyrus is still asleep.” Sans’ voice was quiet, worn out. No doubt it sounded so rough because of all the restless nights he’d been having, not to mention the on and off near-silent sobbing or the distressed chirps.

”Want some breakfast?” You didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like you exactly spoke to Sans after your first and only exchange of words. Might as well just be the gracious host of the house, and let Sans decide if he wanted to keep speaking to you or not. “I’m awake, so I figured I may as well get up and see what I have in the way of food for everyone.” When Sans didn’t say anything, you turned your attention back to him. The mer had made it to the couch, and he was looking at the cushion farthest from you thoughtfully.

Sans slapped his tattered tail fin against the carpet. Then, the mer wiggled it to and fro, all the way up his ecto tail, before Sans launched his upper body onto the couch. He dragged himself the rest of the way onto the cushion with a huff.

”I don’t know what Papyrus told you, but I wanted to tell you that I-hey!” You gasped as Sans flopped himself onto your lap, knocking you backward against the arm of the couch. Bony hands gripped either of your shoulders as Sans shifted so that he held the weight of his ecto body and tail on top of you. There was a sense of something not quite right, and wow, Sans’ canines looked pretty sharp when he parted them and growled lowly at you.

Well then.

You guessed Sans was a bit more like his brother when you’d first come across him in the woods. There was no mistaking the clear threat of those claws pressing into your shoulders, not the baring of tiny fangs. You didn’t want to get into a wrestling match with yet another mer, despite Sans’ smaller, stout size. But you weren’t about to allow yourself to be harmed if it could be avoided.

“What have you done to Papy?” Sans demanded, his voice pitched low. Those clawed tips of his phalanges held tight, light blue magic sparking along the joints.

”I didn’t do anything?” You were genuinely confused as you met furious blue eye lights. “I told you before that I found him in the forest while I was taking a hike, and I checked back on him a few times before I made an offer.”

”What offer?” Sans’ claws flexed against your shoulders, his tail fin slowly flipping back and forth at the tip in what appeared to be agitation.

”That I could bring him to my place? That Papyrus could take as much time as he needed to recuperate in the lake? That once he felt well enough, I would bring him back to the ocean?” You winced but otherwise didn’t move when the claws broke through your clothes.

”That’s all?” Sans didn’t sound like he believed it.

”Yes? I don’t need a reason to help someone if I have the space and time to offer it.” You slowly wrapped a hand around the blanket that had fallen off the side of the couch.

“Humans don’t do that. They would take advantage of that weakness and make a mer do what they want.” Sans let out an unhappy chirp as his teeth snicked together, blunt and flat as they crumpled at the edge’s into a frown. The mer gasped when you draped the blanket around his shoulders. “What are you doing, human?”

”You looked like you could use a hug, but I thought a blanket hugging your shoulders would be better than me specifically hugging you.” You told the mer.

”Mweh.” Sans squeaked out as he let go of your arms, whether to shove the blanket off his shoulders or move himself off of your lap, as if miscalculating your ability to be intimidated at present.

You took the distraction as a chance to cocoon the mer’s arms within the soft blanket.

Realzing he’d been foiled mid-threat, Sans let out a scandalized series of chips, warbles and choice words in that musical sounding language of his and Papyrus’.

”I didn’t understand any of that.” You informed Sans, who adorably pouted in return. How could the mer do that with his cheekbones?

”You’re very resourceful, human, distracting me with soft blankets.” Sans straightened up as best he could, puffing his chest out. “But I’m afraid it won’t prevent me from-“

A single low warble from down the hall made Sans snap his teeth back together. Sans moodily wiggled his tail fin back and forth as he issued out a single sullen chirp in return.

You took the chance to speak was Sans was quiet, still doing that ridiculously adorable pout, and it made you wonder if Papyrus had scolded him.

”This human right here likes to help people, when given the chance to do so, since I didn’t have anyone do that for me when I could have really used help in the past.” You told Sans, sitting up awkwardly. The smaller mer appeared to have decided to continue to weigh you down, so you adjusted to that by settling the loosely blanket wrapped Sans across your lap. “And to your question before...I didn’t do anything to your brother other than offer him a place to stay and food to eat when he couldn’t hunt on his own in the lake. And even then, I still shared monster food with Papyrus if he needed it.”

Sans narrowed his sockets up at you, but it was a thoughtful scrutiny rather than an angry one. 

”they’re right, bro.” Papyrus’ voice was a tired drawl as he appeared alongside the couch, arms draped over the couch arm, jawbone resting on top of them. “didn’t believe it at first, either.”

You watched as Sans shot you a quick glance before focusing on his brother.

”knew there was more going on then what you were saying, bro. didn’t think you were gonna try and sneak up on the human when you can’t move very well on land.” Papyrus grunted as he hoisted himself up onto the couch.

“You can’t either, brother! You’re going to leave marks on your tail if you keep dragging yourself across tiles!” Sans shot back, the cuteness fading as a serious look took over. “I know you wouldn’t be trying anything like it, from what you said, so I thought I would just make sure that-“

“i can take my bro off your hands.” Papyrus cut in over Sans’ words, his hands held out.

”Papyrus! How can you just take their word that they have no ulterior motives?” Sans’ ecto tail was waving wildly within the blanket as he bristled as his brother’s indifference. 

You waited for the furious wriggling to slow before carefully handing the bundled up Sans to his brother. Once your lap wasn’t weighed down with the smaller mer, you stood up. 

Sans quieted before he began to let out a low series of warbles as he sagged backwards in Papyrus’ arms. With a few shakes of his shoulders, Sans freed his arms and absently traced his wrists, where the manacles had rubbed marks into them. A few more chirps slipped out before Sans quieted.  
  
“Do you want some salmon for breakfast or an omelette with veggies and bacon?” You asked as you carefully felt your shoulders where the tips of Sans’ claws had gone through. No blood had been drawn that you could tell, so you ignored the little prickle of pain as you waited for input.

”both? dunno what sans will like right now.” Papyrus grasped his brother’s wrists and used soft green magic on them again, as if he could will away the scars that had been left behind.

”I will go catch my own food!” Sans declared, foiled from completely emerging from the blanket. “I feel almost back to normal! I can’t shirk tracking down and catching prey! Alphys won’t let me hear the end of it if I get out of practice!”

”gotta fix this first.” Papyrus gently swatted Sans’ tail fin with his own. “let y/n make us breakfast. it’s not so bad, being in this place. don’t have to chase down the fish or anything.”

”Lazybones.” Sans crossed his arms. “But if you insist, brother, I will continue to give this human’s food a try.” Sans briefly met your gaze before looking away. “It isn’t often that you put trust in humans, Papy.”

There was a story there, but one you doubted you’d hear about any time soon. You went into the kitchen to give Sans some space. There was no need for you to be in tune with souls to know that the smaller mer was still uncomfortable with your presence. Sans was going to be suspicious of your intentions no matter what you said. So, you would just have to show him that you meant no harm, to him or Papyrus.

Whether Sans trusted you or not didn’t mean that you wouldn’t continue to help him and his brother, for as long as they needed or wanted it.

-x-x-x-

That evening, at sundown, you were seated on the porch, a bulky camera balanced on a tripod as you attempted to get the best angle of the lake. There was a gorgeous mix of yellow, red and orange in the sky, the light bouncing off the water and making it sparkle. Taking a few pictures to later review on your computer, you moved the tripod to the edge of the porch, and set it to face the forest. There would be a backdrop of some reds and oranges in the sky at the very top of the photos you intended to take. 

“What are you doing, human?” Sans peeked around the front door, keeping a wary distance from you, as he had for most of the day.

”Taking some pictures of the lake, forest and sky.” You shifted the angle of the camera to the side, and took another picture. “I’m hoping there’s going to be a clear sky later tonight. I’d love to get a good shot of all the stars.”

”The stars? You can see them out here?” The mer’s voice was wistful.

“Yes?” You glanced over your shoulder at Sans and saw his rather hopeful look. “There’s less light pollution from the city out here, so the sky is clearer.”

”It’s been months since I’ve seen the stars. The forest was too dense to see through the canopy and before, I wasn’t allowed-“ Sans cut himself off, and looked away from you, to the lake. He was quiet for a moment before continuing. “I want to swim but Papy says I won’t be able to with my tail fin torn. But I don’t think it’s that bad! I’m sure as soon as I get my strength up, I’ll get along just fine.”

“Well, I’ll continue to make sure that you and your brother have access to as much food as you need. And if you happen to need any other medical supplies while here, I can make sure I have it, or buy it if needed.” You told Sans, returning your attention to the sky and your camera as you took a few more photos. When you didn’t hear Sans reply, you checked the door, and found that he was gone.

That was fine.

He shouldn’t force himself to interact with you if he was uncomfortable with your presence.

-x-x-x-

Later that night, when you were getting ready for bed, you were drawn to the front of your home at soft weeping coming from outside. You made your way as silently as you could to a window, and peeked outside.

Sans and Papyrus were seated on the porch. It looked awkwardly uncomfortable but both appeared to be content where they were.

At the angle from where you were standing, you could see that the mer skeleton’s ecto tails were hanging off the edge, likely brushing the grass. 

Sans’ hands were pressed to his face, his shoulders quivering as translucent tears fell beneath them. Papyrus’ arm was wrapped around his brother’s bony shoulders as he silently stared up at the starry sky, tears rolling down his cheekbones.

Feeling that you had stumbled across a private moment, you decide that taking photos of the starry sky could wait for another night. You quietly retreated to the couch and sat down, picking up a book you’d abandoned earlier that day. You couldn’t help but think back to the morning, and Sans’ behavior toward you. It felt like Sans had decided to threaten you out of fear of what you could do to him and his brother. But he hadn’t completed the threat, because you’d distracted him with the blanket. And later, he’d been subdued but civil, inquiring about the stars.

You stared at the book pages, not taking in any of the words.

Other humans had already harmed Sans in the past, so why would Sans think you were any different, despite your apparent good-will?

By the time you turned in for the night, you were more determined than ever to offer whatever help you could to these mer. With time and a peaceful place to recuperate, you hoped to show them that not all humans were terrible.

When you woke the next morning after sleeping fitfully, you found a tiny sea shell in one of your hands.

How had it gotten there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note 1: this fic’s Underswap Sans can be happy and carefree (coughcutecough)but he will take things more seriously, can enjoy a joke that isn’t a terrible one, and does believe there’s good in everyone, even if that faith is shaken by what’s happened to him and his brother. US!Sans will also give someone a bad time if he feels it is necessary, because even if he’s swapped, he’s still a Sans.
> 
> Note 2: I have been thinking to do a short time skip (as in a month or so in the fic) so that I can get to the comforting part (and helping Sans with his damaged tail fin) because I need some fluff and characters communicating with one another. It won’t be smooth sailing, but I could get the fic moving along instead of waffling over how to gradually get the characters to interact with each other versus a time skip with callbacks to how they are communicating/started to get along better.


End file.
